I had the television on in the background while doing other things last Saturday. I was watching Bulls and Bears on Fox News, and the panel had a short discussion on how divorce affects the economy. I was shocked that everyone had the same opinion. Here’s a transcript of the conversation from the Bulls and Bears website:

Divorce Rates Drop During These Tough Financial Times: Is It Better to Stay Miserably Married With Money or Get Divorced, Be Broke and Happy?

Tracy Byrnes: If you want to stick it out and try counseling to make it work, I am all for it. But you have other things. Unhappy couples, and then we have domestic violence. You can make it work. Go to mediators. You don’t necessarily need attorneys. Attorneys are going to be e-mailing me now. But you can get it done economically. It is much more costly to be divorced, absolutely. But at the end of the day it has everything to do with your heart and happiness. Who cares about the wallet?

Wayne Rogers: You have to divide it. One is an emotional decision. The other one is a practical one. If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it. You can’t mix the two. If you can’t afford it, you have to stay together. If it’s going to kill you otherwise then split up.

John Bradshaw Layfield: My wife is rich, so it is great for me to stay married. She is watching right now. So it’s better for me to stay married. But if you’re miserable, get out. One of the best things you can do as far as home ownership is stay married that help the economy. People buy more things when they own a home. But if you’re miserable, get out!

Jonas Max Ferris: That is the irony. The American dream keeps people together when it is declining in value. They separate because they want the money from the home. Divorce can be good for the housing money. Right now if people got divorced, it would be excellent for the housing market. We need that demand. There are other things you benefit from being together. You have shared cost and more disposable income. If you are in an unhappy marriage with a lot of disposable income, you might buy things to try and make it better.

Jonathan Hoenig: For me, there is no difference between a relationship and a stock. If it is not working out, dump it. If it is not working out, cut your losses. It is going to be much cheaper in the long run.

God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). For these people to unanimously say that it’s OK to get divorced with barely a moment’s thought given to what God might think reveals the predicament of this country. Righteousness exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34), and these people don’t even give righteousness lip service.

When we get married, we make a promise, and to pursue a divorce is breaking our promise. If it’s so easy to break a promise that we make, oftentimes, before all of our friends and family, how can it be a big deal to break our word with people with whom we’re doing business? Capitalism must break down; it’s not designed for a completely unrighteous people. As America slips into paganism, our economy will become the economy of a pagan nation.

So how should these people have answered the question? The answer is that the purpose of marriage isn’t to make us happy, but to make us holy, and to make us more Christ-like. We keep our word, and stick things out.